Asses and Dams

Friday morning we decided not to stick around Havasu and to carry on. One place Chris had wanted to visit was a little town called Oatman about an hour further north. The original plan was to leave the trailer in Havasu and do a day trip, but looking at the map we figured that rather than backtrack, lets just take the trailer with us. It turns out the road was a little rougher and more windy than I would have liked, but we all survived it.
Oatman is an old mining town that had its heyday in the late 19th and early part of the 20th century. Like a lot of places in the southwest, it owes its existence to gold.
Oatmans attraction now is its artistic population and the descendants of the original burros that were left to run wild after the gold ran out. While technically still wild, they hang around town looking for handouts from the hundreds of visitors that come through here every day.

There are signs all over the place warning people to keep their distance but these things are so tame! I hear that they will bite and kick if they get annoyed though so there are signs all over the place warning people to give them their space.

Lots of places in town sell little food pellets so you can feed them. Somehow I don't think these things go hungry!

While climbing up the hill from the valley floor, we could see patches of orange flowers off in the distance. Once we got closer, I was able to pull off and see that they are Poppies. I'm not sure if they are California Poppies or Mojave Poppies though. There were quite a few large patches of them all over the hills. What with all the rain this winter, there is a full bloom going on.

After finishing up in Oatman we decided to press on to our next planned stop which was Henderson. Chris had found that we could stay at the Railroad Pass Casino for a few nights, so that is what we did. This would also position us nicely for Saturdays planned activity which was the Hoover Dam.
I had been there once before way back in the late 70's but didn't really remember too much of it so I was looking forward to it.
There have been a few changes to the dam in how they manage visitors. They have built a big new parkade and ramped up security a lot. We had to have the truck inspected just to get down the hill and then had to personally go through an airport style security check to get into the visitor centre. We had signed up for the powerhouse tour, so before starting that we were shown a short video on the history of the dam then about 70 of us all trouped into the elevators and were taken way down to the powerhouse.

This is the Nevada side power house. There is another one almost the same on the Arizona side.

The tours were pretty quick and ended up in the interpretive centre. There were a number of interesting displays there that we got to see and play with.

This photo depicts the construction of the dam. After the tours were done, we walked across the dam and back then back to the truck. The plan was to drive across the dam then up and take the new bridge back to Henderson. Apparently they have stopped allowing through traffic as, after crossing the bridge and driving back up the hill, the road was blocked off, so we had to turn around and drive back across in the other direction.

After that, we went back to the casino. We had made arrangements with friends Larry and Val Patterson to meet for dinner. Just before dinner, Chris and I headed over to sign up for their player cards and one of the benefits of that was a 2 for 1 at the buffet. While we were doing that, Larry and Val arrived and Larry signed up as well. Saturday night was prime rib night so we all pigged out on dead cow then headed back to the trailer for a night cap.
Today, after another 2 for 1 buffet, brunch this time, we packed up and moved to a temporary spot in North Las Vegas just across the street from Larry and Vals place. It is supposed to be BLM land so I hope we don't get rousted in the middle of the night. They had invited us for supper which was delish. After supper they took us downtown to Freemont Street. Man was it crowded! It was St Paddy's day so it was a sea of green but according to Larry, it is packed down here every night. We wandered around for about an hour, saw the LED light show and visited a couple of the shops before we all decided we had had enough. One thing we all were noticing was the amount of smoke on the street; not just cigarette but weed as well. It is legal here and a lot of it was being consumed.

After that, they drove us down the strip before heading back.
All in all a very busy and satisfying day.

Windy, windy, windy

Well, the rain continued through Monday night and well into Tuesday. Everything around us was quite wet and the usually dry washes were running again.

Everyone we have talked to who has spent any amount of time down here says they can't remember a year where the desert was this green at this time of year. Also the wild flowers are still in full bloom as well. You can't walk hardly anywhere without stepping on them. We didn't do much Tuesday as it was just too wet and cold.
 

The story of Wednesday had to be the wind! The good news is that the clouds cleared off and the sun came out but the wind really started to howl. It blew all day and right into the night. The trailer got rocked a few times by very strong gusts. From what I hear though, we had it easy compared to New Mexico a few hundred kilometres east. There it was strong enough to blow trains off bridges and tip over trucks on the highway!
Later in the day, Chris and I decided to make one last trip into Quartzsite more or less for something to do. Between last winter and this one, we have been into the town of Quartzite countless times. One thing we had not done until yesterday though was visit the Hi Jolly Monument. Hi Jolly was a camel herder who spent most of his life in the Southwest. The link above has lots of information on this interesting character. There is a monument to his life and exploits in the area at his gravesite in the Quartzsite cemetery.

Today (Thursday) was moving day again. We said our goodbyes and continued the slow trip home. Today was only a short drive up the road of just over an hour. We have moved to a BLM area just north of Lake Havasu City. The wind is still blowing as well. Maybe not quite as strong as yesterday, but still strong enough to shake the trailer occasionally. We expect to stay here for a day or 2 before carrying on. We visited the London Bridge last year when we were here so doubt we will do that again but will see what else there is to do here. There are some interesting rock formations in the area but I don't think I will try and climb any of them.

Stone arches and more rain

Shortly after arriving here a couple of days ago, I noticed a rock ridge across the road just to the North of us with what looked like a couple of stone arches.

I looked up the location of the ridge on Google Earth and found that it was only about a mile from where we were camped so would be an easy hike. So about 10AM on Sunday, I set off. Getting there only took about 25 minutes as I just cut straight across the desert. It started out as a coolish morning but was warming up quickly and with the warmth comes the possibility of snakes so I was keeping a close eye out to where I was stepping. Fortunately I didn't come across any but I did find lots of wild flowers though. Are you getting tired of flower pictures yet?

There were lots of this one which iNaturalist identifies as Nama or Purple Mat.

Carrying on, once I got to the bottom of the hill, the next challenge was figuring the best way up. Most of the hills around here are composed of loose rock over the substrate so can be pretty slippery if you aren't careful where you step. It took me another 15 minutes or so to make it up to where the arches were. It was worth the climb as they were quite impressive. A bit bigger than they looked from down below too! This one was big enough to walk through without bending over too much.

If you look carefully through this one, you can see our camp off in the distance.
I also discovered there was a geocache up here so took a few minutes to locate that as well. It proved a bit more difficult that I had thought as my GPS was leading me in circles on the wrong side of the hill. Perseverance paid off though as I did finally locate it.
I came down a slightly different route and took this shot about halfway down near another rock outcrop.

From the same spot as the last shot, I took this one looking back towards our camp. You can just see it to the right of the Saguaro cactus.
I went looking for another couple of geocaches on the way back and made it to the trailer just around 12.

Today there were plans for lunch trips into the local towns. The guys were heading in to a pizza place in Quartzsite while the gals were going Mexican in Parker. I didn't sleep all that great overnight and wasn't feeling all that great so elected to stay behind, but I gather a good time was had by all.

Around about 3:30 it has started to rain again! The forecast shows showers through most of the night tonight and then mainly cloudy tomorrow. I hope we get back to nicer weather soon. I am getting tired of the rain. Oh well, at least I don't have to shovel it!

A new group (to us) and new digs for a few days

We had originally planned to leave Mittry on Thursday morning, but heard at the last minute that friends we had spent time with earlier were going to be back at Mittry on Thursday afternoon, so we decided to hang around for one more day. Don and Glenda arrived right around mid day and as we were catching up with them, we learned that some other Boomers were at an RV park just up the road. We all headed over there for an impromptu Boomer happy hour at 4. A good time was had by all and we headed back around 5:30. After we got back some other neighbours across the road invited us over to their camp for a while. We didn't get home from that one til 8:30 or so. I think I'm beginning to like this lifestyle!
Friday morning after saying our goodbyes to Don and Glenda, we headed off. A quick stop in town as I wanted to pick up a second Canadian flag and then we were off, headed North to Quartzsite.
We made a stop to dump our holding tanks and refill water at the RV Pit Stop then carried on to our next planned stop.
There is a gathering of Escapee Boondockers (a group similar to the Boomers) at Mile Marker 11.5 on Plomosa Rd. This is a few miles past the Boomerville spot where we spent most of January. We had met a few of them way back at Thanksgiving in Borrego Springs and wanted to reconnect with them and meet some new people as well. When we arrived we found about 20-25 rigs and quickly found a good spot to get set up.
They usually do a happy hour at around 3PM but Friday was very windy, so the gang decided to go into Bouse for fish-n-chips instead. Bouse is a small town only about 10 miles further up the road. The food was OK and it gave us a chance to get to know some of the gang a bit better.
Saturday, Chris wanted to do some laundry, so she headed into Quartzsite. I took Maya for a short walk the struck off on my own for a little while.
Now that spring is here I am on the lookout for anything new. I am particularly liking all the wild flowers out here.

I'm not sure what this is. Maybe some variety of suncup?

These Notch Leaf Scorpion weeds are everywhere.

These Arizona Lupines are also very common around here.

Found this gnarly old relic close to camp.

On my way back I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and when I looked, I found this little guy. He was difficult to spot but if you look carefully you will see a Horned Lizard aka a "Horny Toad". Apparently they are quite rare around here and are listed as endangered so I guess I was lucky to actually see one!

Here is another shot a bit closer.

We are the rig flying the Canadian flag right in the middle in behind the brownish motor home.

This is the Boondockers gang around the fire circle for Happy Hour.

Spring is springing here in the Sonoran desert

A pretty long post this time.

Monday morning after breakfast we headed over to the Christian Service Centre at the Imperial Dam LTVA. They run a small post office for snowbirds. Our replacement Mifi device was ready for pick up.
Recall when we were here last year in early December we had tried to hike up a dry wash and through a slot canyon. We were thwarted by the recent rains and had to turn back as the canyon was still flooded. After picking up the Mifi, we headed back up to see if we could finish the hike.
Luck was with us as the slot canyon was totally dry this time. We started up the right fork and got almost all the way until we were stopped by a dry fall. I probably could have scaled it and carried on but didn't want to leave Chris behind so we turned around and headed back.

This is where the trail splits

 This is where we got turned back last time

Almost there

  More narrow passages

The end of the line. Just where the edge of the shadow is is a dry fall about 10 feet high. Imagine this with a torrent of flood water pouring through.

So we backtracked and this time I took the left fork.

 The first obstacle is this pile of rocks

 A little further up were these neat scour pools. Rocks, sand and water swirling around in them grind the hollows.

End of the line. I could have gone further but again Chris didn't feel comfortable following so I turned around.

On the way out we found more evidence that spring is just around the corner here. Wild flowers are starting to appear.

 According to my iPhone app, these are "Notch Leaf Scorpion-weed" plants.

 I'm not sure what this is but I think it is a species of GroundCherry. Possibly the "Yellow Nightshade Groundcherry".

Yesterday, I dug the Carbon Cub out and went and joined the guys down by the lake for a bit of float flying. They start at the crack of dawn, so I had to get down there early. Managed to get three good flights in before the wind came up and everyone headed home.

Afterward we just took it easy for the day. It is starting to get pretty warm here now with daytime highs up to about 30 and staying quite warm over night. As a result the trailer is pretty warm as well.

Today we had planned a trip into town. This time to join a few fellow Escapee Boomers for a regular gathering of a Movie and Dinner. 

 

Before we headed out though I went for a short hike in the hills around camp and snapped a few more pictures. We had noticed a Prickly Pear cactus that was starting to bloom so I wanted to get a shot of that. There are a ton of variants to the species but I think this one is the Beavertail cactus.

 

 

I also found a barrel cactus starting to bloom

 

 

Some others I found were this "California Fagonbush".

And this "Emory's Rock Daisy"

We elected to go see the third installment of "How to Train your Dragon" which we both enjoyed. After the movie, we had a couple of errands to run then joined the rest of the gang at a local Italian eatery for pizza.

One more thing before I wrap this entry up. I am not sure where they are coming from but in the last 3 days we have caught 5 mice in the trailer! I'm not sure if we picked them up over at the flying field when we were there or if they are coming in over here. Here's hoping we won't find many more.

Quiet times here at Mittry

It has been pretty quiet here at Mittry. We have both just been kicking back and relaxing, not doing too much at all.
We have been into town a couple of times since we got here though. Over the last few months, the Canadian flag that I fly most places has started getting a bit tattered. I'm not surprised as it has been through some pretty good wind storms. That was one of the things I needed to replace so found a vendor at the Arizona Marketplace that sold flags.
While we were in Tucson I had snagged my cell phone belt pouch on something and broke the belt clip so also went in search of a replacement for that. I was able to find a couple of vendors with suitable replacements at decent prices so bought a couple so I would have a spare. We also picked up a couple of other odds and ends.
After that we met up with some friends from back home, Rick and Deb Young, for dinner at one of our favorite spots; Ninja Sushi.
Friday morning also dawned mostly overcast but just before sunrise I managed to catch this sunrise. The sun is rising earlier now so I have to get up fairly early to get these.

It did clear off later in the day so we were able to get a good charge back into our batteries from the sun. So far this trip, we have only used about 10L of gasoline for our generator, relying on our solar panels for 99% of our power needs. The other nice thing is that the sun is quite a bit higher in the sky at midday now so I don't have to go up on the roof to tilt the panels any more.
Our weather has also made a big turn around from 10 days ago. The daytime temps have been into the upper 20's and only going down to the mid teens overnight. We are back to sleeping with the windows wide open again!
Yesterday we were back in town again. This time to visit other friends from home, Gerry and Marilyn Gerow. They are only here for another couple weeks before high-balling for home. Chris also picked up the ingredients for a rib dinner which we enjoyed tonight. She has pretty much got her BBQ Ribs recipe down pat. They were yummy and enough for left overs tomorrow!
After we got back to camp yesterday the wind came up and by sundown it was really howling. We had the awning out for a while in the afternoon, but had to pull it in or it would likely have got torn off! Even at bed time it was blowing hard enough to shake the trailer pretty good at times. I had the new flag up and just before turning the lights out, figured I should probably take it down before it too got torn up.
I was able to get our internet Mifi supplier to send us a new unit. We should be able to pick it up tomorrow. The old one is driving us crazy at it reboots itself anywhere from every few seconds to every 5 or 10 minutes.